A crowd pleaser Roasted Tomato Salsa – bright, tangy & so flavorful! It’s always the star of parties served with tortilla chips. Also great on tacos, tostadas, with chips and everything you can get your hands on!
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Tomato Salsa
You know that salsa that everyone loves and raves about when you’re at a party? This Roasted Tomato Salsa it is!
This Roasted Tomato Salsa is the one I make when store-bought jarred salsa just won’t cut it. Broiling the tomatoes, bell pepper, jalapeños, and garlic until they blister brings out a smoky sweetness raw salsa can’t touch, and a quick soak in lime juice takes the harsh bite off the onion. It’s the salsa that disappears first at every party I host.
I got this recipe from my childhood friend Ilse back in Obregón, Sonora. She took my original Salsa Mexicana and layered in a couple of tricks from our friend Claudia – roasted red bell pepper for sweetness, and pickled onion for brightness. Two small changes, and the whole salsa leveled up.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Restaurant-quality without the wait. Broiling does the most of the work. There is no need for simmering or babysitting a pot.
- Real depth of flavor. Charring the vegetables brings out natural sugars you just don’t get from raw tomatoes.
- You control the heat. Pull the seeds and ribs from the jalapeños for mild, leave them in or swap in serranos.
- Freezer-friendly. Make a double batch and freeze half for later (details below).
♥️ xo, Ana
This is the best tomato-based salsa I make, but if you’re after something built on dried chiles instead, my Chile De Arbol Salsa is worth a try too.
Ingredients
The beauty of this roasted tomato salsa recipe is that the ingredients are available at any grocery store. Easy to find & easy to make!
- White or yellow onion
- The juice of one large lime
- Roma (plum) tomatoes or your favorite ripe red tomato
- Red bell pepper
- Jalapeño peppers or serrano for a spicier salsa
- Fresh garlic cloves
- Fresh cilantro
- A little red wine or champagne vinegar
- black pepper & kosher salt
How to make Roasted Tomato Salsa
- Marinate the onion: Add the chopped onion and lime juice to a small bowl and set aside. This takes the raw bite off while everything else roasts.
- Broil the vegetables: Arrange the tomatoes, bell pepper, jalapeños, and garlic on a baking sheet. Broil about 3 inches from the heat for 12–15 minutes, until the skins are blistered and charred in spots. Keep an eye on the garlic — it roasts faster than the rest and can burn.
- Let everything cool: Give the vegetables 10 minutes or so to cool down before you handle them. The skins can stay on – that char is where a lot of the flavor lives.
- Blend in stages for the best texture. Add the tomatoes, peppers, and garlic to a food processor first and pulse a few times. Add the marinated onion and cilantro last and pulse just until everything is roughly chopped – over-blending turns this from a chunky salsa into a smooth sauce.
- Serve or store: Serve right away with tortilla chips, or refrigerate until ready to eat.
Ana’s Recipe Tips
- Why roast at all? Roasting deepens the tomatoes’ natural sweetness and adds a light smokiness that raw or canned tomatoes can’t replicate.
- Fixing a too-sweet or watery batch. If your tomatoes roasted extra sweet, stir in a splash more vinegar or lime juice, or mix in a small amount of raw diced onion at the end for contrast.
- Serrano vs. jalapeño. Serranos run noticeably hotter than jalapeños – use a mix of both if you want heat without overdoing it. No broiler? Roast at 425°F (220°C) for 25–30 minutes instead, until the vegetables are soft and lightly charred at the edges.
- This isn’t a shelf-stable canning recipe. The jar photo is for storage, not home canning – tomato salsa needs the right acid balance to can safely at room temperature. If you want to preserve a big batch, follow a tested USDA or extension-office canning recipe rather than this one, or just freeze it instead (see below).
- Storing
- Refrigerator: Keeps in an airtight container for 5–6 days.
- Freezer: This salsa freezes well for up to 3 months. Freeze in a freezer-safe container or bag, leaving a little room at the top for expansion, and thaw in the fridge overnight before serving. The texture softens slightly after freezing, so it’s best used in cooked dishes (like huevos or enchiladas) if you’re picky about that fresh-blended texture.
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Print Recipe:
Roasted Tomato Salsa
Equipment
- Food processor
Ingredients
- 1 cup onion - chopped
- 1 large lime
- 5 roma tomatoes - cut in half
- 1 red bell pepper - cut in half, seeds removed
- 2 to 3 jalapeños - or serrano peppers for a spicier salsa
- 2 garlic cloves - peeled
- ½ cup cilantro
- 1 ½ Tablespoon red wine or champagne vinegar
- ¾ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- In a small bowl add the onions and the juice of the lime. Set aside.
- Spread the tomatoes, bell pepper, jalapeños, & garlic over a baking sheet and broil about 3 inches from the heat (top of oven) for 15 minutes for or until the top of the vegetables are roasted .
- Once the vegetables are cool, add to a food processor along with the onions and cilantro.
- Pulse a few times or blend briefly until the onions & cilantro is roughly chopped.
- Transfer to a bowl and add the vinegar, salt & pepper.
- Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to eat.
Notes
Your Private Notes
Nutrition
FAQs
Yes! Roma or plum tomatoes are traditional because of their concentrated flavor and lower water content, but any ripe tomato works. If using larger tomatoes, dice them first so they roast and blend evenly.
No peeling needed. The charred skin is where a lot of the roasted flavor comes from, so leave it on when you blend.
This usually means the tomatoes were extra ripe or roasted a little longer than needed. A splash of vinegar or fresh lime juice at the end brings the acidity back into balance.
Both. For mild, remove the seeds and ribs from the jalapeños before roasting. For more heat, keep the seeds in or swap in serrano peppers.
More Mexican Salsas:
Try any of my delicious salsas…. Always authentic, easy & delicious!
The story behind this salsa
The credit for this recipe inspiration goes to my dear childhood friend Ilse from my hometown Obregon Sonora as she’s the one I tried it from first. She took my Salsa Mexicana recipe and combined it with a couple of other steps from our friend Claudia’s salsa.
So clever!
She added red bell pepper and the pickled onion. This elevates my original salsa to a different level!!
Could you a little more seasoning but overall really good ! I used a variety of peppers and tomatoes from my garden and everything I used was home grown including the cilantro so I used the closest I had to recipe but added a few varieties of peppers and used yellow onion instead of red and other than adding a bit more seasoning it was overall a a great recipe.
You weren’t kidding when you said this is better than the restaurant! This is an amazing and simple recipe and the results of making it are people gathered around the bowl dipping until there is no more! Thank you for your recipes! I have yet to find one that I didn’t like. Keep up the great work!
On a homemade salsa kick and just tried this recipe and don’t think I got quite the right results. It has almost a Mexican spaghetti sauce flavor to it with how sweet the tomatoes got with all the roasting, I had to add a LOT of lime juice to get acid back in there. Any thoughts on how I might correct? If I mix it with some diced raw white onions while serving it does help somewhat.
Thanks so much for trying the recipe and for your thoughtful comment! It does sound like your tomatoes may have gotten extra sweet from the roasting—this can happen depending on the variety or how ripe they are. Also, if the chiles weren’t too spicy, that could mellow things out even more.
Next time, you might try using tomatoes that are just barely ripe to help with balance. Adding a couple more chiles or including some raw elements (like the raw onion you mentioned—great idea!) can definitely bring back more edge. A splash of vinegar could also help if you’re still missing that acidity.
Appreciate you giving it a go and sharing your experience!
xo, Ana
As always… delicioso!
Loved this roasted tomato variation, the depth of flavor is noticable! Will make again.
This recipe became a family’s favorite, I’m saving this recipe for. Thanks for sharing
This roasted tomato salsa was sooooo tasty! OMG I couldn’t stop eating it with chips!
This salsa is incredible! It’s my go-to recipe for homemade salsa. So good!!
This is the BEST salsa! So tasty!
This is really good salsa.
Thank you Kevin! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this salsa. Happy New Year!
My favorite go to salsa. Have used this at a lot of parties. Everyone always comments and devours this with tortilla chips.
I discovered this recipe last summer, tried it, and loved it! I have been making it since. I love the delicious smell and taste of roasted veggies. Thank you for sharing it. I’ll definitely keep visiting your website for more wonderful ideas.
I’m so happy you loved my salsa, I can eat it all day with almost everything or just with tortilla chips. It’s so essential in my house that as soon as we ran out, my hubby runs off to buy the ingredients. I really love your new blog! Especially the idea to click on the picture to go to the recipe, so clever!
I never have made a roasted tomato salsa before and definitely think its something I need to try after seeing this post. I’m all for snacks.. so this is ideal.
Hi Thalia! You definitely should! It is so delicious you will never buy salsa from a jar again. I hope you have a wonderful day!